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Indiana Lawmakers at Odds Over Toll Road
But change along the 157-mile toll road is under way, said Matt Pierce, a spokesman for ITR Concession Co., the private firm that runs the road. Electronic tolling began Monday from Illinois to Portage, and the lease calls for a third lane to be added in that area to relieve congestion.
Thomas Gresik, an economics professor at the University of Notre Dame, said leasing roads to private companies can work _ depending on the price and how it's paid out.
  Vehicles pay tolls as they enter the Indiana Toll Road near Angola, Ind., May 30, 2007. The State of Indiana leased the toll road for 75 years to a private consortium for $3.8 billion on June 29, 2006. The wisdom of that decision is still being debated in Indiana and other states as the anniversary of the lease approaches. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond) (Joe Raymond - AP) 
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"Having that money up front makes the actual economic benefit much larger than $4 billion because we can make improvements today that are going to attract new companies," Gresik said.
The state is expected to steadily increase the amount it spends on road projects. According to the state Department of Transportation, Indiana spent $686 million on road construction in fiscal 2005. During the past year, the department spent $788 million on roads, a figure that's expected to increase to nearly $1.5 billion by 2015.
However, the tolls for passenger vehicles are expected to rise from $4.65 to $8 when electronic tolling is fully implemented by November.
Truckers saw an increase from $14.55 to $17.90 in May 2006; it's now $22.60. It will increase to $27.30 on April first, and again in 2009 to $32. That could push truckers to find ways around the toll roads, possibly rumbling through small towns, said Tim Lynch, senior vice president of the American Trucking Associations.
Bauer expects to hear a public outcry as tolls continue to rise.
"The hostility will be there because then it will be more visible that you're contributing to this foreign corporation," he said.
But Daniels believes that people will see the benefits of improving roads without tax increases.
"Look at what they're doing in 49 other states where they're raising the gas taxes, borrowing ungodly amounts of money just to pay for today, and you'll see what a great deal we got," he said.
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On the Net:
Indiana Toll Road contract: http:/
ITR Concession Co.: http:/
